Opposition MPs demand postponement of elections for new members in High Council of Justice
Opposition MPs say that a large-scale justice reform must precede the election of new members in the High Council of Justice. Photo: 1TV.
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Opposition MPs from Lelo, Strategy Agmashenebli, Khatuna Samnidze from Republican Party, independent MP David Bakradzea and MP Zurab Japaridze from Girchi-More Freedom have demanded the postponement of elections for four new members of Georgia’s High Council of Justice.
The election for the new members to the body which selects and appoints judges in Georgia is scheduled on May 26, by the conference of judges.
The opposition MPs say that both judge and non-judge members of the council must be elected only after large-scale justice reforms are carried out, in line with the EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of Georgian political parties back in April 2021.
Opposition MPs say that none of the previous justice reforms were successful because they lacked the involvement of parties and public trust.
The opposition states that the EU may suspend its financial support for Georgia if the country fails to implement major justice reforms.
The Lelo opposition party has submitted a bill requesting the state legislature declare a moratorium on the election of new judges for the country’s Supreme Court and new members in the High Council of Justice before the implementation of the EU-mediated agreement.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has stated earlier today that ‘it is likely Georgian political parties have built a large consensus on the election bill, in line with the EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of the parties back in April.'
The European Georgia opposition party has made a final decision earlier today and stated that the party will not enter the state legislature, while three of its five mandates have already been taken up.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) Nika Melia, who was released from pretrial custody on May 10, met with the UNM party founder and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili in Kyiv yesterday.
EU and US ambassadors to Georgia say that the election of judges to Georgia’s Supreme Court and members of the High Council of Justice should take place only after major justice reforms have been carried out in line with the recent EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of Georgian political parties back in April 2021.
Four individuals have been elected to Georgia’s High Council of Justice earlier today amid a rally of civic activists and the calls of the US and the EU ambassadors to pause the process.
Deputy head of EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) Luke Pierre Devin has disapproved of the recent election of four new members in the Georgian High Council of Justice, the body which selects and appoints judges in the country.
The Georgian High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body which selects and appoints judges around the country, has selected nine candidates for judge in the Supreme Court despite the calls of foreign diplomats and the opposition to pause the process.
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association says that clan rule of Georgia’s High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body which selects and appoints judges around the country, remains a major challenge.
The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court by the Georgian High Council of Justice (HCJ) must be stopped temporarily until fundamental reforms are implemented in the judiciary and a wide discussion of the issue is held, US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said earlier today at a conference of the International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED) on Digital Election Campaign and Information Manipulations in Georgia.